Various approaches for collecting sheets of flexible materials exist including simple rods and tubes for collecting and rolling suitable materials, such as cloth or fabric pieces, along the length of these cylindrically-shaped support structures. Pieces or “bolts” of fabric are collected in such fashion, rolls of which can be stacked on shelves or positioned upright in bins for storage. Unless the material is folded prior to loading, adequate support requires a support length equal to and preferably slightly longer (so that no fabric protrudes beyond the edge and thus potentially subject to abrasion and soiling) in length than the smallest dimension of the material to be placed onto the support. Hence, most rolls or “bolts” are long, as typical fabric widths may include 35-36″ (inches), 39″, 41″, 44-45″, 50″, 52-54″, 58-60″ and 66″, 72″, 96″, and 108″ and other custom widths as well (Source: Wikipedia: #Bolt(Fabric), page updated 2016).
Other approaches include flattening the support structures or shaping them to be flattened with elliptical and/or ovoidal cross sections, enabling them to collect and roll the materials and yet further facilitate stacking of a plurality of the somewhat flattened rolls. However, the length of these flat rolls are equally as long as the minimum width of the fabric, making storage difficult owing to the lengths involved, which usually exceed standard shelf depths in homes and retail stores, which are typically of 24 to 30″ in depth. Accordingly, collected fabrics on rolls are usually stored on customized shelving deep enough to fit the length of the roll, which adds expense to storage and display. Alternatively, rolls can be stored and presented vertically by stacking in bins, but this provides disorganized storage and results in soiling of the lower portion of the collected fabric materials on the roll resulting from dust and debris that collects in the open bins, and the effects of abrasion on the ends or sides of the rolls coming into contact with the bins, which are generally constructed of either wood or wire cage to hold a plurality of fabric rolls. Accordingly, the use of conventional means for storing fabric results in somewhat cumbersome shelving and storage requirements requiring deep shelving or open, disorganized bins for storing and presenting rolled fabrics in home, retail and commercial environments.
While fabric can be pre-folded to reduce its width-on-roll, these pre-folds are sharp 180 degree folds in the material itself, involving the folding of the material back onto itself, and is generally done in a direction parallel to the bias (running thread or length) of the material, which if being a woven, partially woven or other such biased, oriented material, will result in the undesirable creasing of the material along the sharp fold. While subsequent creases can be removed or reduced later, this requires a second step such as application of heat or steam via ironing, steaming, pressing, or the like, to effectively remove the crease.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that is low cost, simple to use and which enables the convenient collection and storage of fabrics and similar textile materials in a compact and easily stacked or organized fashion that provides an improvement over conventional means that have not been improved over historical times.